Deception
by DegenerateStar
Summary: In the name of my country and the greater good I have deceived and fostered falsehoods. In order to protect thousands of nameless individuals who will never know my name, I have sacrificed and lost everything.
1. Chapter 1

**An: I do not own any rights to Person of Interest, or to anything affiliated with the CBS network**

* * *

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." - Sir Walter Scott

* * *

**I. Janus**

A lone figure sat at an empty conference table waiting for the big wigs to file in so she could start her debriefing. The figure sat and stared out the bullet resistant floor to ceiling glass windows looking out over the Potomac River. She smirked, it was kind of funny after all her service to this organization she had never once stepped foot into this building. It made sense though, considering only about 30% of the organizations employees actually worked in the building, plus she technically unofficially worked for the organizations clandestine branch.

Fifteen years ago, she would have never thought that as a result of accepting this job, that her life was going to end up like this. All those years ago she made a commitment and signed up for something she didn't fully understand the implications of,if she could go back in time, she would have said no. She looked down at the stamped classified report file in front of her, 723 pages that was it. 723 pages single spaced in 11 point font summarized all of what she had accomplished in 15 years, all the investigating, the double dealing,the lies and half-truths. It would have been 826 pages but she removed 103 of those pages to protect the people who she owed her life to. Her time apart from them had past so agonizingly slow and fast at the same time. Not a day went by that she didn't think about them, how they were all doing, if they were safe. If her employers ever found out what she was hiding they would probably torture and kill her.

She still was haunted by what she had to do to accomplish her mission. She rolled her shoulders and massaged her chest her wound was still giving her phantom pains. She hated the way they orchestrated her extraction. It made her sick to her stomach every time she relived the last moments in her nightmares. The lives she'd inadvertently disrupted and shattered.

When she accepted the employment offer she didn't think that she would be thrown into a critical mission after only 10 months of rigorous training. Her mission involved her constructing a cover so deep that it fooled everyone around her. Her "family", her "friends", everything had been based on half-truths and lies to protect her mission and true intentions. The cover was so well put together that it made her beyond suspicion and beyond reproach, it made her easily dismissible. She had to change her physical appearance, she even had to go as far as starting her own family. She let out a scoff, she was literally the textbook definition of a sleeper agent.

As the conference doors opened, she rose to her feet and stood at attention as her superiors filled into the room. After they had all settled into their seats, she took in the presence of all the military brass and high ranking officials. She lowered the projector screen and dimmed the lights and began the debriefing.

Eight and a half hours later she finished the presentation and made her way to the elevators. Once the elevator reached the lobby she made her way to the front desk to return her badge, retrieve her phone and sign out of the building. As she waited for the desk employee to retrieve her phone her eyes wandered to the seal on the wall behind the desk. She stared at the seal that consisted of a picture of the earth encircled by two red atomic ellipses. Sitting on top of the earth was a gold flaming torch, above the torch were 13 stars and below the earth was a wreath, encircling the whole image were gold bold letters that read 'Defense Intelligence Agency United States of America'.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the desk clerk handing her phone back over to her. She grabbed her phone and then the pen on the counter and scrolled down the sign in sheet till she found her name, 'J. Ward' in at 09:00 out at 19:45. She turned on her heel and left the building to return to her temporary apartment in D.C. to await her next assignment. As she made her way to the parking lot she didn't notice the red light of the security camera flick on as it observed her.

* * *

_Data processing…applying facial recognition…processing…identity match:99.999%…current status: deceased…updating…current status: active…former asset confirmed…threat level: unknown...affiliation: classified...searching databases: classified...subject status: under surveillance...data archived…..contacting admin._

* * *

In the dark quite of the abandoned library a computer monitor screen flicks on and the soft hum of a printer coming online cut through the silence. After a few minutes a single sheet of paper was printed out consisting of a screenshot of a news paper article that read "Decorated New York Detective, Gunned Down by Corrupt Police Officer".

* * *

**An: I'm going to try my hand at a full blown story,this will be an AU type of setting. It was inspired by my over active imagination centered around the fact that Joss, im my opinion, had a lot of unexplained skills with weaponry and being able to spot/ditch CIA agents. This first chapter is just a set up,the rating might go up as i get further along in the story.**

**P.S.**

***Janus refers to the Roman god who in art is depicted with two heads facing opposite ways.**

**(i.e being two faced) got the idea from an episode of this show called Numbers.**


	2. Chapter 2

"There is no truth. There is only perception"- Gustave Flaubert

* * *

**II. More Questions, No Answers**

* * *

_Location: 10°56'49.4"N 48°41'22.9"E…transmitting_

Dirt and brush kicked up underneath a set of boots as a tall figure, obscured in black barreled through the rough and uneven gaping terrain of the Ogo Mountains. Gun shots rang out and echoed through the canyons. The obscured figure slide down an opening in between a shadowed crevice as a group of three heavily armed assailants ran by shouting orders. The figure slowed their breathing as it listened to the armed assailant's scourer the mountain side. The night was disrupted as a distorted voice over a radio feed broke the silence. "Is the target neutralized?"

"No sir, we lost her" one of the armed figures replied. The voice over the radio sounded back "We can't afford mistakes, I'm calling it in, abort your pursuit, return to the site."

The armed figures regrouped and started making their way back down the mountain towards the small town in the West.

After silently waiting until she was sure her pursuers were gone, the figure removed herself from her hiding spot. She made her way down the East side of the mountain range. Once she reached the bottom she removed a Sat-Phone from her survival pack and placed a call to a nondescript number. As the phone dialed out the figure removed her mask reveling feminine facial features of a woman with olive colored skin.

The silence of the night air was broken as an automated voice transmitted over the phone. "You have reached the contracting office of Brutus & Sons; our hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9:00AM to 5:00PM and Saturdays from 10:00AM to 3:00PM. If you would like to schedule an appointment, press 1. If you would like to leave a message, press 2. If you would like to leave a message for a named partner within the firm, press 3 followed by the extension number."

After pressing 3 followed by a five digit sequence a male voice recording stated "Marcus" followed by a beep.

"Hey Marcus, this is your faithful employee speaking, you know if you're going to try and kill someone, you should really make sure you send the right people. But don't worry I'll be seeing you real soon, and when I get back to the States, you and I are going to have a long conversation about your employee termination policy." The female figure angrily disconnected the call and smashed the phone against the rocks and made her way to the coast line.

* * *

Harold Finch rubbed the bridge of his nose to try to relieve the stress that had been building since 5:00AM. Scattered across the workstation in the library were countless stacks of books, newspaper clipping, and documents. He honestly had no idea what was going on and why the Machine gave him the two numbers that it of the numbers was probably in some form of trouble, but the other number was of a person that he personally knew was beyond their help. After doing what he could in terms of research and given the sensitive nature of the situation, he decided that it was best to discuss the situation as soon as possible. His thoughts were interrupted by Bear signaling that his 'employees' were here.

"So Finch what's with the SOS, is something exciting about to go down" Shaw blurted out as she bent down to pet Bear. Judging by the look on Johns face he was silently wondering the same thing.

"I would categorize it more so as puzzling, then exciting Ms. Shaw. The Machine has given us two numbers," he paused. "Possibly?"

"Possibly?" ,"What the hell does that mean?" Sam skeptically replied.

As he made his way to the glass board he replied "The first number is related to a man by the name of Marcus Walters, he works at a contracting firm downtown, and other than a few parking tickets, seems to be a clean and average person."

"What about the other number?" His body stiffened as he heard Johns voice. He turned to face them.

"Yes, about that, that's where the situation, becomes complicated" he watched as John and Sam exchanged looks.

He took a deep breath and turned back to the glass board and posted the news paper article that the Machine gave them. He slowly turned back around and watched as a look of surprise crossed Sam's face and a look of anger and anguish played across Johns.

"The Machine printed out this article and I have no clue why." The library was engulfed in silence as he let what he just revealed to them sink in.

"I don't get it, she's dead, is it hinting at something else, is her kid or family in trouble or something."Shaw gauged with a confused look on her face.

Taking his eyes off John, who hadn't moved or said a word since he put the article up. "I don't think so Ms. Shaw, I have been monitoring young Mr. Carter and his father and nothing has come up to indicate that either one of them are in danger. I even looked into the well being of Officer Simmons's wife and children."

He turned back to John, he was going to mention that he even verified her medical records and death certificate but he knew just from witnessing the tragedy that Jocelyn Carter was shot in the chest, where her heart was located, there was no way she could be alive.

He sat down back at his chair looking at both John and Sam. "I believe the best course of action at this point, would be to locate Mr. Walters and see if he has any connection with our puzzling circumstances. I've sent his work address and home address and information to your phones"

He turned toward John, he was still looking at the article, he wanted to say something but even with his vast amount of knowledge and extensive vocabulary, he knew there was nothing he could say to comfort him.

"Alright let's find out what this dude knows, I'll take his house" on that note Shaw turned on her heel and made her way to the exit.

"Mr. Reese, I…" he trailed off as John slowly shook his head and quietly made his way out of the library.

Harold removed his glasses and rested his head in his hands. He had a feeling that a storm was on the horizon and he honestly didn't know how many more of them they could take before the levees broke and they were swept away in the surge.


	3. Chapter 3

"The wrongdoer is more unfortunate than the man wronged."- Democritus

* * *

**III. Cloak**

* * *

_New York_

John felt sick to his stomach as he sat at the bar in the small café nursing a cup of coffee. Ever since they had received the new numbers, his mind keep taking him back to the night Joss died. He felt like abandoning the mission and making his way to the nearest liquor store and drinking himself unconscious. His eyes drifted to the mirror in front of him as he observed the male occupant in the booth behind him.

After he left the library he made his way to the work address of Marcus Walters. When he came to the office building, Walters was in the process of leaving. He started following him and tried to clone his phone but the signal didn't go through, so he had to resort to planting a listening device in the man's coat pocket when he "accidentally" bumped into him.

John stared at the man and gauged him as being in his mid 50's, brown eyes, with a pale complexion. The man had been sitting at the booth for 15 minutes and judging by the way his leg keep shaking, he was nervous about something.

He was brought out of his thoughts as an older white male, with white hair sat down in front of Walters.

"Walters, I can't say I'm delighted to be here speaking to you right now. I hired you to get results and what I got instead was a mess."

Walters fired back in a rushed hushed voice "This wouldn't have happened if you told me what the hell you planned on doing to my asset. You asked me for one of my best to accomplish your task, if you were just planning to kill her to cover your tracks, I would have sent someone else to handle the mission."

The older man scoffed "Watch your tone Walters."

Walters clinched his fist and sat back against the booth.

"So how are you going to handle this mess, there are a lot of powerful people who have a vested interest in making sure this operation goes through as planned."

Walters cracked his knuckles against his chin and leaned forward "My people are working on it." The older man narrowed his eyes signaling for more of an explanation.

"Ross made contact after the botched assignment. She left a message on the switchboard saying she was coming to have a conversation with me in person. Her last confirmed location was the Ogo Mountains in Somalia."

"How's she going to get here? Her travel credentials are flagged and her accounts frozen." The old man replied. Walters smirked "You asked me to give you the best, if you think that's going to stop her then you obviously didn't read her file."

Walters rubbed the bridge of his nose, "More than likely she's already in the States, probably already in New York."

The older man leaned forward "Can you stop her?", "Depends" Walters replied.

"On what ?", the older man questioned. Walters ran his hand down his face "On how pissed off she is."

The older man sat leaned back "What about paying her off?" Walters turned and gazed out the diner window before he replied. "She's one of our best, she has a particular trait that makes her a damn near unstoppable killing machine. We took that trait and made her loyal to us and turned her into our attack dog and..." he trailed off still gazing out the window.

Johns face hardened as he listened to the conversation, he didn't like were the subject was going"

"And?" the older mad replied.

Walters turned his gaze back to the man "And, when you abuse an attack dog, you better make damn sure you put it down the first time, because at the first chance it gets, it'll rip your throat out." The old man chuckled as he stood up "Well then, you better approach the matter like your dog has rabies and put her down, permanently. In the meantime I'll be seeing to the handling of another loose end. I trust you'll keep me informed on your progress." The older man made his way to the exit.

Walters sat at the booth for a few seconds longer, then placed some money on the table and made his way to the exit.

John paid for his coffee and made his way out of the café as he tapped his ear piece "Finch, Shaw, did you get all of that?"

"Yes Mr. Reese, I did. It seems that Mr. Walters is both our victim and perpetrator."

"I say we let the bastard get what's coming to him."

"That would be ill advised Ms. Shaw, given the possibility that Mr. Walters or Ms. Ross may be able to provide us with answers."

"How do you suggest we stop her Finch, because the last time I saved an assassin, she shot me." John sarcastically replied.

Shaw mocked back over the connection "Well I did say you had poor communication skills Reese."

"Even so, we do not know what Ms. Ross is capable of and how far she's willing to go to get her revenge, it could potentially end up with a lot of innocent people getting hurt.

"What do a contract killer and her employer have to do with Carters death?" Sam questioned skeptically.

"I don't know Ms. Shaw but I think it would be worth our time to find out"

* * *

_Washington D.C._

Echoing thumps and grunts sounded out across the gym as a female figure boxed it out with punching bags. _'Joss just stay with me..please..just..Joss…God.'_

She could still hear his voice and feel his hands as he cradled her in his arms before she "died". Ever since her extraction she spent her time working out twice a day, seven days a week. One reason was to get back in shape, playing mom for 15 years, made her gain some weight and loose muscle tone and definition. The other reason she worked out was to provide herself with a distraction. Every time she was bored or tried to sleep she would be haunted by flashbacks of what she did.

A part of her wanted to fall off the grid and return to New York to explain herself, to ask her son for forgiveness. To gravel at Johns feet and beg him not to hate her for what she'd done to him, not to despise her for the lie she lived for 15 years. She hated herself so much for hiding the truth from him. When they were in the morgue she wanted so bad to tell him the truth. She almost did but she lost her nerve when he told her that she changed him and then he kissed her.

She felt the burn as her eyes began to tear up. If only she had the power to turn back time, she could try to make things right. But this was reality and there wasn't going to be a fairy tale ending for her. She would have to live with her actions as a constant reminder of the price she paid when she signed her life away. She threw down her boxing gloves and made her way to the pull up bars.

* * *

A man dressed in black climbed up a fire escape and made his way into a 5th floor apartment window. As he made his way into the apartment he surveyed his surroundings. He pulled out a gun as he moved through each room to ensure no one was home. Once he cleared the apartment he began planting the evidence that his employer wanted the cops to find. He removed a bag with bottles of pills in it. He began placing the perception bottles of Anti-depressants, pain killers and muscle relaxers on the bed side table and in the medicine cabinet. He then made his way to the kitchen and placed bottles of hard alcohol in the cupboards.

After placing the evidence he sat at the foot of the bed and took out his phone and opened the attachment with his targets information on it. He waited as the photograph of a government file loaded on his phone. As he scrolled down the document he read the targets information again. 'Sex: Female, Height: 5ft 4in, Weight: 140lbs, Alias: Jocelyn Ward/Carter/Richards/Williams, Age:42, Former Employer: US Army, Current Employer: DIA, Occupation: Human Intelligence Officer, Tactical Training/Skills: Multilingual; Counter Surveillance; Close Quarter Combat; Unarmed Combat; Applied Explosive Techniques; Rapid Assault; Military Free Fall(HAHO); Precise Application of Lethal Force; Field Medicine; Extreme Environment Survival.'

His phone vibrated as he received an incoming text. He looked at the text, 'Target mobile, ETA 15 minutes.' He flicked his phone off and stood up from the bed and made his way to the bathroom. Once inside the bathroom he removed a syringe from his pocket and stood in the dark of the bathroom and waited for his target to arrive.

* * *

**An: Military free fall refers to parachuting. HAHO is a technique and it stands for "high altitude,high opening"**


	4. Chapter 4

"The lack of money is the root of all evil."-Mark Twain

* * *

**IV. Dagger**

_Location Roslyn Station…11:00PM Friday  
_

Joss cradled her side and wiped the blood from her nose as she limped down the stairs into the Metro Station. As she reached the platform she hastily made her way onto the train and moved to the back of the car and sat down. Once the doors closed and the team started to move she allowed herself to relax. She took a deep breath and rested her bruised forehead and cheek against the cool glass. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing as her mind took her back to the events of the evening.

* * *

_Kingman Park Washington, DC…..9:15PM Friday  
_

Joss pulled her car into park and shut the engine off she grabbed her gym bag and made her way to her apartment building and got on the elevator. After a few moments the elevator opened up on the fifth floor and she made her way down the hallway to her apartment.

As she was pulling out her keys, her phone vibrated. She pushed open her front door and made her way into the apartment as she spoke into the phone.

"Ward…Hello?" she pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the caller ID as she made her way to her bedroom. She raised her eyebrow as the screen on her phone displayed the word 'Unknown'. She was about to hang up when the sound of static and a automated female voice came through the other line.

"Can..You..Hear...Me?" "Detective…Carter…Imminent…Danger…Intruder…9'oclock."

She immediately looked to her left and dropped her phone as a man dressed in black barreled out of her bathroom.

He engaged her as he started throwing haymakers at her, she moved backwards and she extended her arms blocking his fist from hitting her in the head and face. When she saw an opening she extended her left foot in a low kick aimed at his knee, as he buckled from her kick she reached her left arm out grabbing his shoulder and bringing her right knee into his stomach.

As her knee connected with his gut, his fist came up and connected with her cheek sending her stumbling into the wall. She didn't have time to brace herself as his hand slammed her forehead into the wall while his other fist connected with her ribs. He tossed her to the ground onto her back and pulled out a syringe. As he made a move to stab her with it, she brought her feet up and pushed him back causing him to let go of the syringe. She turned around and got to her feet to make a dash to her dresser where she keeps her gun. Before she should get three feet away her attacker grabbed her by the waist in a bear hug. She leaned forward with all her weight and looked over her shoulder as she threw her elbows back into the sides of his head as many times as she could. As his grip loosened she spun around bringing her knee into his face multiple times before he caught her leg and lifted her off the ground before slamming her onto her back. While she was on the floor he punched her in the nose. She blocked his next punch and brought her legs up wrapping them around his neck. He rolled over trying to get her legs loose. She dropped her left leg and braced it on the ground as she brought her left hand up grabbing her right ankle locking him in place. Using the added leverage of the ground she reared her body up and twisted swiftly to the left causing a popping sound as she broke his neck.

She quickly detangled herself from the man's limp body as she got to her feet and surveyed the room. After establishing that she was alone she made her way to her dresser pulling out her gun and a golden key. She looked around her room and noticed the pills on her night stand, she moved back over to the dead body and searched him for ID, but only finding a phone. She turned it on and the first thing she saw was a picture of herself. Scrolling through the document she realized that she was the target of a hit and someone had taken pictures of her government file and given it to a hitman. She tossed the phone and grabbed a hat and jacket out of her closet before she made her way to the front door. She looked out the peep hole to see if her uninvited guest brought friends.

She slowly opened the door and made her way down the side staircase and out the back exit of the building and headed toward the city. She ditched her phone in the apartment so she couldn't be tracked, at this point she didn't know who was behind her attempted assassination. Now all she had to do was make it to the metro station, and get on the orange line.

* * *

_D.C. Metro Orange line….11:45PM Friday  
_

She was brought out of her thoughts when the announcement on the train came on

"Virginia Square GMU Station"

She got up from her seat and made her way to the doors, once the doors opened she moved quickly to the bike lockers. Once in the locker section she made her way to the last locker and pulled out the golden key she grabbed from her apartment. She unlocked the locker and pulled out a stash pack, she unzipped the bag and put her gun into it and pulled out a set of car keys and made her way to the parking garage a block away. Once she got to the car shed get out of D.C., find a motel and clean herself up. Then she would make contact with her people and try and figure out what the hell was going on. All she had now were questions, Who wanted her dead?, Why?, and Who was that voice on the phone and how did they know her old identity?

* * *

_Kingman Park Washington_ ,DC…6:30AM Saturday

James Frost looked on with dissatisfaction as his team surveyed Wards damage. The plan was simple, kill Jocelyn Ward and make it look like she committed suicide. He turned to the short man next to him and asked what went wrong.

"Sorry Sir, we didn't expect her to be as skilled as she was."

Frost replied "Do you know where she is now and if she has contacted the agency yet?"

The young man replied "She was last seen heading into the city and to our knowledge she hasn't contacted anyone with the DIA yet."

"Alright then we are moving to plan B, bring in the laptop and money and set up the trail" Frost ordered as he turned and walked out of the apartment.

Frost ran his hands through his white hair as he made his way out of the building. All this incompetence was giving him a headache. Now he had to go through the process of making it look like she was a traitor to her country. Once he was back at the office he'd make sure she was flagged as a high risk threat to security and once that happened, Jocelyn Ward was as good as dead.

He watched as the sun began to rise as he enjoyed the silence of the early morning. His reprieve was cut short as his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and smiled before he hit answer and accepted the call.

"Hello Walters, I sure hope this call is in relation to what we discussed about you finding your dog and putting it down." He listened as Walters updated him about his other problem.

"That's good, as soon as you have Ross in your sights kill her." He hung up the phone and got into the black Escalade that pulled up in front of him.

As he settled himself he turned and looked out the window as his point man approached. "Walters just informed me that Ross is in New York and wants to meet with him, I want you to take a team and go up there and make sure the job gets done." "Once she's dead, kill Walters too. Is that clear?"

The young man nodded to him and made his way to the car behind him. Frost smirked as he sat back in his seat all the pieces were coming together and at the end of it he was going to be a very rich man. He turned his head toward his driver. "Driver take me to the DIA operations center." Once Jocelyn Ward was branded a traitor to her country and when Walters's lapdog was put down, he and his employers could rest at ease knowing that the loose ends were finally taken care of.


	5. Chapter 5

_Justice belongs to those who claim it, but let the claimant beware lest he create new injustice by his claim and thus set the bloody pendulum of revenge into its inexorable motion-__ Frank Herbert_

* * *

_**V. Pendulum**_

_New York Saturday 6:00AM_

Walters rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants as he stared out his office window as he waited for his assistant to bring him Ross's file. His thoughts were interrupted as his office door opened and his assistant carried in a stack of files.

"Sir, here are all of the files you requested."

"How long until the operations room is up and running" Walters replied

"About 10 minutes Sir."

"Good" Walters replied as he dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

Walters picked up the first file and began reviewing the content. 'Last Name: Ross, First Name: Alexander, Date of Birth: Estimated between 1980-1985, Ethnicity: Unknown-Suspected East African, Gender: Female, Hieght: 6ft, Weight: 165, Language Proficiency: Multi Lingual, medical History: genetic disorder; diagnosed 1999.

Before Walters could finish reading Ross's file his train of thought was broken by the phone on his desk ringing. He swiftly reached across his desk and grabbed the phone off the receiver and stated into the phone "Walters."

After a pause a female voice replied over the phone "Battery Park, south entrance, 1 hour, come alone." Before Walters could respond Ross had already hung up and all that could be heard on the other line was a soft hum of a dial tone.

Walters hastily rose from his desk and rushed down the hall to the operations center. As he pulled open the door he was greeted with a room full of tech employees who were sitting at state of the art computer modules. Walters walked up to the command post and began bellowing out orders.

"Listen up people, the target has made contact. I want a 200 meter perimeter set up around Battery Park, I want snipers covering the South and North entrances and exits. I want a team mobile in 10 minutes and I want them operational in 15."

He made a jester to the woman on his left. "Bring up Ross's file on the control panel and send her photo to the mobile devices of the team."

Walters turned to his assistant and ordered him to get in contact with Frost. He turned back to the control panel as he watched everything being put in place. His assistant handed him a cell phone where he informed Frost of the situation, once Frost gave him the go ahead he hung up and put his communication piece into his ear and started a mic check.

One by one over the communication line each asset acknowledged their position and status as on site and ready. Walters watched as his technicians hacked into the camera feeds surrounding the park.

"Alright people look alive and alert this target is one of our own, she knows every move in the book and will be 3 steps ahead of you. This is a kill on sight mission. Once the target is down you have 20 minutes to collect the body and return to the safe house for confirmation."

Walters looked at his watch as the hand hit 7:00AM

* * *

Staring through binoculars on the roof of the building across the street sat two figure dressed in black.

"You hear that Finch?"

"Yes Ms. Shaw, how do you two think we should proceed, it will be impossible for you both to be in two places at once?"

"We don't need to be" John interjected

"Why is that Mr. Reese" Finch questioned

"Because if she's a good as Walters says she is, there's no way she's going to show up at Battery Park."John replied.

"If it were me I'd find a way to confront Walters when he's alone, or if I didn't care I'd just blow up the entire building."Shaw stated out loud.

"Let's hope for our sakes Ms. Shaw that Ms. Ross isn't that drastic"

"You know Finch stopping her would be a lot easier if we knew what she looked like" John stated.

"Unfortunately Mr. Reese I haven't been able to find any information on , it's strange it's like she doesn't exist, no photos, alias, or records."

John and Shaw exchanged contemplative glances they were both concerned about the lack of information too. Given both their experiences in espionage, every spy had a back story and a past. John had an eerie feeling that was running up his spine.

He remembered something that Snow once told him about the job. He said that there are two types of monsters in their business, the ones who choose to walk in the darkness and the ones who were born into it. He had a sinking feeling that they were about to meet one who was born into it.

* * *

Walters looked at his watch it was 7:20AM and still no sign of Ross yet he was beginning to think she spotted one of the assets and fled. Before he could contemplate anymore his phone rang again. He picked up the phone and signaled for them to trace his phone, once he was given the go ahead he answered.

"Walters."

"You know Walters the least you could do is actually show up to a meeting with your disgruntled employee."Ross replied calmly over the line. Walters looked at the surveillance monitors.

"I am at the meeting but I don't see you." A slow chuckle sounded out over the phone.

"Tisk, tisk Walters you shouldn't insult my intelligence, you wouldn't want to make me any more upset then I already am. You know I'm a little offended that all you sent after me were 8 people."

Walters covered the receiver and asked where his trace was.

"Sir, it's coming in now...that can't be right it says she's…"He watched as his assistant trailed off as he turned around and stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes widened. Walters raised his eyebrow and was about to ask him what was wrong when he heard a click and felt a pressure in the middle of his back.

He felt his heart plummet to his stomach and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he felt a warm breath on his right ear as a female voice whispered into his ear.

"Right behind you." She kissed his cheek and grabbed the back of his collar.

"Alright nerds if you don't want to die I suggest you make your way out of the building, now."

At first no one moved, he heard Ross sigh as she removed the gun from his back and put a bullet into his assistants head. As soon as the gun went off the remaining people in the room fled. After everyone was gone Ross shoved him into a desk chair and shoved her gun into the bottom of his chin.

"Now Walters you have 5 minutes to tell me everything I want to know."


	6. Chapter 6

_An object that is in motion will not change its velocity unless an external force acts upon it.-Sir Isaac Newton_

* * *

_**VI. Momentum**_

As soon as John and Shaw heard the gun shot over the line they made their way down from the roof and across the street just in time to see a group of people rush out of the building.

As they pushed their way into the building they observed the unconscious or probably dead bodies of the security guards in the lobby. They made their way to the stairwell and proceeded to climb to the 8th floor. Finch had already contacted Fusco and informed him of the situation.

Walters grunted out in pain as Ross fires a bullet into his left leg.

"You better start talking Walters, you don't have all day."

"I swear Ross I have no idea why you were retired, I'm jus following orders."

Ross grabbed his right hand and snapped three of his fingers.

"Tell me what you do know."

"Your last mission, all I know is that it has to do with your last mission." Walters replied.

Ross grabbed him by the throat."Who are you taking orders from?"

When he didn't reply Ross shoved her gun into the bullet wound in his leg. Walters grunted out "Michael Frost."

Walters watched as Ross straightened up and a look of confusion flashed across her face. She cracked her jaw and narrowed her eyes at him. She raised her gum and leveled it with his head he instantly closed his eyes and waited for her to pull the trigger.

After a few seconds he heard shifting behind him and he slowly opened his eyes. Ross was no longer standing in front of him holding a gun. He turned in his chair and watched as she placed a small black device on the window and stepped back and covered her ears as a high pitched wail shattered the window.

He watched as she shed her jacket and pulled out a portable mouth breathing apparatus. Before he could stop himself he questioned her actions.

"You're not going to kill me?"

She moved closer to the window but before she could reply to his questioned the both were distracted by the clicks of guns from the entrance of the room. They both turned their attention to the two people pointing their guns at Ross.

"Don't move Ross" the tall male commanded. Walters looked back and forth between the random man and woman in front of him.

"Believe it or not we're here to help you" replied the short woman.

"Who are you two, you're not any of my men." Walters questioned.

The tall man replied "My names Reese and this is Shaw, considered us a concerned third party, and were actually here to help both of you."

Ross broke the silence as she laughed. "Really now and what makes you think I need your help?"

The Short woman narrowed her eyes at him and replied "Because we both know what it's like to be hunted by your former employers."

The tall man interjected "despite how you may feel, going on a killing rampage for revenge isn't going to solve your problems."

Ross narrowed her eyes at Reese "Don't tell me what I can and can't do old man."

Ross turned her eyes back to Walters "To answer your question Walters I'm not going to kill you."

John and Shaw exchanged glances.

"Why?" Walters questioned.

Ross smirked and motioned her head to the monitor that had the security feed to the building on it. Displayed on the screen were two groups of 5 men in full tactical gear making their way into the building.

"Because whoever wants me dead must have decided that you no longer have a useful purpose anymore." Before anyone could stop her, Ross turned and jumped out the window. A few seconds later they heard a splash as she hit the water 100 feet below.

John rushed to the edge of the window and looked down the only thing left was a ripple in the water. He tapped his ear piece.

"We lost Ross Finch but we have Walters and a bigger problem, there's a 10 man hit squad coming for Walters." John turned back around to see Shaw bandaging Walters's leg.

"Is there a way out of here other than the stairways?" John questioned as he walked up to Walters.

"Yes down the hall behind my bookcase there's an elevator that leads to the sub basement." John handed his gun to Shaw as he helped Walters to his feet. They hastily made their way to Walters's office and took the elevator down to the subbasement. Once they reached the subbasement they made their way to the black Lincoln navigator and made their escape out of the complex.

John drove in the direction of Finches safe house. Ross may be done with Walters but he still had questions he needed answered.

* * *

_East River_

Ross made her way out of the water and up the embankment. She moved across the abounded field towards a car and popped the trunk. She removed a bag of clothes and changed out of her soaking wet ones and tossed them into the trunk.

Once she was changed she got into the car and turned on her tracking device to track the bug she planted on Walters. After 20 minutes of the signal not moving she was confident that her target was stationary. She marked the location and started the car and made her way to her destination.

* * *

_Finch's safe house 8:00PM Saturday_

After questioning Walters they were able to find out a little bit more about Ross and who she was. Although Walters didn't know why Frost wanted her dead he did know that it had something to do with her last assignment. Unfortunately Walters didn't know anything about Joss's death. After a while Finch was able to provide Walters with a new identity and sent him on his way.

Ross watched as the three strangers sent Walters away and after an exchange of words they all went their separate ways.

The tall man and the short angry looking woman seemed to be the man in the glasses hired hands. She tailed the man with the glasses to a small diner once she was sure he was alone she decided to have a conversation with the man who seemed to be the ring leader of the 'concerned third party'.

Finch sat down and removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He looked down at the folder that Walters had given them containing some information on Ross. Apparently even he didn't know who Ross really was. According to Walters Alexander Ross was a killer with a special gift. Shaw had informed them the genetic disorder that Ross had was known as CIPA. It was a type of sensory disorder that didn't allow for her to feel pain. He could understand that given the line of work she was in how her condition could allow for her to carry out missions that the average person couldn't.

His thoughts were interrupted as a cup o tea was places in front of him. He looked up to thank his waitress but who he saw made his blood run cold. He watched as Ross sat down in front of him. He didn't know if it was the fact that she was a trained killer, the steely look in her eyes or her intimidating 6 foot height. Either way he knew that despite her dis-alarming soft facial features she could probably kill him with the tea cup that was one the table.

"Ms. Ross" he stated as he watched her look down at the file he was reading.

"Mr. Stranger. I have some questions for you and it would be in your best interest to answer them." she replied with a smirk on her face.

Harold gulped and slowly nodded his head. "Who are you?" she questioned

"My name is Finch and my colleagues and I help people who are in danger or stop the people who are causing it."

She smiled at him. "How interesting I don't suppose you will willingly tell me how you know the things you know."

Harold drew his mouth into a straight line. Ross leaned her chin onto her hand. "I guess not, do you know why I'm in the situation that I'm in?" She questioned

"Other than what you were told by Mr. Walters, no I don't know anything else about your situation." Harold watched as she sat back against the booth and slowly tapped her fingers on the table.

"Well then I guess you're of no use to me." As soon as those words left her mouth Harold was sure she was going to kill him. He held his breath as she reached across the table and grabbed his cup of tea. He let himself breath as he watched her drank his tea. Once she was done she started to get up.

"Wait." Harold started he removed the printed out newspaper article from the folder and slide it across the table toward her.

"Do you know anything about this for some reason my source thinks you have a connection to it."

He watched as she read over the article and raised an eyebrow. She made eye contact with him and slowly got up "I don't know, but with what I have planned for Frost, I have a feeling I'll be seeing you and your colleges real soon."

Harold watched as she left the diner and disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

_Internet Café Queens 10:00PM Saturday_

Ross sat down at the internet café in front of a computer monitor sipping coffee. She pulled up a search engine and typed in the names of the cops that were in the news paper article. She sipped her coffee as she waited for the article to load. Once the article loaded she scrolled through it till she came across a picture of a familiar face.

A sinister smile slowly crept across her face as she stared at the picture of the supposedly slain New York detective.

"Well, well it looks like I will be seeing you sooner than we both though Mr. Finch."

Ross finished her coffee and made her way through the semi deserted streets. As she walked down the street she was contemplating ideas to how to get a hold of the man named Finch. He said that he and his colleagues helped people who were in danger. So maybe if she started shooting people they'd come to her.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a random payphone started to ring she ignored it and kept walking but with each payphone she passed it would start to randomly ring. She drew her gun from her waist band and took in her surroundings.

She walked up to a random payphone and picked it up. As she put the phone to her ear an electronic female voice came through in broken burst over static.

"Can…You…Hear…Me… Alexander…Ross…The Truth…shall…save…You… 5595… Hammans…Mill Road… West…Virginia…25404… Jocelyn…Carter…is…Alive…Retrieve…Asset… And…Return…To… Admin…Harold…Finch…

Then the line went dead.


	7. Chapter 7

There's a snake lurking in the grass.-Virgil

* * *

**VII. Renegade**

_7:00AM Saturday…Bethesda Maryland… DIA Operations Center_

Frost sat in front of a mahogany wooden desk as he stared at the name plate on the edge of the desk that read 'Deputy Director Crawford'. He was patiently waiting as Crawford read over the file he produced on Jocelyn Ward.

Judging by the agitated look on Crawford's face he was buying every word of it.

"Are you sure about this? Crawford questioned.

"Positive Sir, when one of the sitters went to check in on her, that was the scene that was found."

He watched as Crawford dropped the file and rubbed his forehead.

Frost sat forward in his chair "With all due respect Sir, I think it is in our best interest to have her flagged within the intelligence community and put a kill or capture order on her before she can do anymore damage to this country."

He watched as Crawford looked at the file again and began to think. Frost had to contain his smirk, as soon as Crawford caved and gave him the go ahead he would be able to eliminate his employers' biggest threat.

"No, not yet" Crawford replied.

Frost leaned back in his seat "Excuse me Sir."

Crawford closed the file and pulled out an address book and flipped through the pages and reached for his desk phone.

"Ward was point on a vital investigation, I'm not about to blow 15 years of undercover work until we are sure beyond a reasonable doubt as to what's going on."

Frost could barely contain his anger as he watched Crawford dial out to a number.

"Emerson report to OP Center, we have a situation."

He watched as Crawford stood up and began collecting his things.

"Get a team set up in the command station. I want you and her handler, Emerson working this together. I'm heading to the capital to brief the Director."

Frost stood up and followed Crawford to the elevators.

"You have 12 hours to locate Ward and find out what the hell is going on."

"Yes, Sir" Frost replied as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

_7:15AM…Saturday Baltimore Maryland_

Ava rolled over in bed and sat up as she grabbed her phone as it continued to ring. She hit accept and answered. "Emerson."

"Emerson report to OP Center, we have a situation."

"Yes, Sir" Ava replied as Deputy Director Crawford hung up.

Ava hastily got out of bed and got dressed and grabbed her phone, car keys and laptop as she rushed out of her home.

* * *

7:45 AM…_ Saturday…Bethesda Maryland… DIA Operations Center_

Frost sat at the command post as he watched the agencies intelligence analyst and communications experts ready their equipment. He watched as they pulled up video and security feeds as well as bank statement and phone records.

He wasn't worried about the information trail, his people had set up a flawless paper and electronic trail that provided the perfect set up to make Jocelyn Ward look like she was selling secrets for money.

His only problems now were to make sure that Walters and his contract killer, Ross were dealt with and convincing Wards handler Emerson, that Ward was dirty. From reading up on Emerson, he realized that he was going to have to tread carefully.

Frost leaned his head on his hand. Emerson was good at her job and she been at the game almost as long as he had. He sighed he missed the good old days, when the only females he had to deal with wore skirts and served him coffee. The last thing he needed right now was a pant suit wearing bitch with something to prove.

Ava swiped her access card and marched into OP Center. She made her way to her office to drop off her stuff and was greeted by her assistant.

"What going on Clarke?' Emerson questioned.

"Ma'am, a contract killer with ties to extremist groups was found dead in Wards apartment, a cleaner team found money and a laptop with sensitive information on it, they think she was selling secrets."

"You've got to be joking." Emerson replied

"I wish ma'am, a team is ready in the command station. Right now they are sifting through the evidence and trying to track Ward down."

"Who's running point?" Emerson asked

"You and Frost." Clarke replied

Emerson closed her eyes and mumbled under her breath.

"I know my thoughts exactly, and to make matter worse he was first contact for the sitter who discovered the situation."

Emerson scrunched her eyebrows together. "Since when do sitters contact upper personnel?"

"Apparently the sitter was one of Frosts new trainees. He said he was nervous and forgot protocol." Clarke replied.

Emerson scoffed and grabbed her phone and walked out of her office heading for the command station.

Frost watched as Emerson and her lackey walked into the command room. He stood up as she walked up to the command post.

"Emerson how nice of you to join us, so tell me how you let a traitor go so long undetected under your watch."

Frost watched as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't know Frost, you tell me, since you seem to be the one who conveniently stumbled upon all this information."

Before he could reply she turned away from him and began giving orders.

"Someone pull up the security feeds from the night of the attack."

They watched as a black and grey video of Wards apartment played across the screen. They observed as Ward pulled up outside her apartment at 9:15PM on Friday and walked into her building. At 10:05PM they watched as she limped out the back exit of the building heading into the city of D.C. A few hours later they watched as the sitter arrived and then watched as their cleaning crew arrived.

"What evidence was found in her apartment?" Emerson asked

One of the analysts spoke up "A laptop, money and the body of a contract killer by the name of Azar, who has ties to many extremist groups as well as arms dealers across the globe. The laptop contained information on intelligence operatives as well as subcontracting groups."

Emerson took a moment to collect all the information she was being given. It just didn't make sense. She was their when Ward first started, after 15 years of service to the DIA and all that the woman had sacrificed for her country, she all of a sudden had a change of heart and became a traitor.

Emerson was brought out of her thoughts as her phone began to vibrate. She looked down at the caller ID and didn't recognize the number. She signaled for a trace and put the phone on speaker.

"Emerson" she replied

"Its Ward" she heard Jocelyn's voice respond on the other end.

Emerson looked around the room as everything got quit.

"What's going on Emerson?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. Do you want to explain why there's a dead body of a contract killer in your apartment?" Emerson questioned.

"He attacked me and I defended myself." Ward replied

"This doesn't look good Ward. What were you doing with Azar and who were you selling the laptop to."

"What laptop?" Ward replied

"We found money and a laptop with sensitive information on it in your apartment. What happened? Did the deal go bad? Is that why you killed Azar, to cover your tracks?" Emerson fired off.

They all listened in silence as they waited for Ward to respond.

"I'm being set up"

Emerson raised her eyebrow.

"Set up by who Ward?"

When she didn't reply Emerson continued.

"Alright how about you come in peacefully and we can sort everything out."

"I don't think that's in my best interest Emerson."

"Ward if you don't surrender now I can't help you clear your name. If I can't help you, you'll be branded a traitor and once that happens, the situation will be out of my hands." Emerson stated.

The room was filled with silence as they waited for Ward to respond.

"I'll take my chances." Before Emerson could say anything else the line went dead.

* * *

_10:30AM… Saturday…Centreville Virginia_

Joss hung up the payphone, she was on her own. Whoever was behind this wanted her dead and discredited.

She had two options now stay and find out the truth or run. She removed a set of car keys from her jacket pocket and walked toward her car. She needed time to think of a plan but first she needed to distance herself from the vicinity of the DMV. She'd head west and stop at the first motel she came across.

* * *

_10:40AM__ Saturday…Bethesda Maryland… DIA Operations Center_

Emerson stared at the phone thinking.

"You can't possibly be buying that story" Frost questioned.

"I'm not buying anything, I'm doing my job." Emerson replied to Frost

Emerson walked up the command post and started giving new orders.

"I want everything on Jocelyn Ward. No one leaves this room until I know everything about her from the minute she was born to the second that phone call ended. I want a detailed report on every person she's ever come into contact with, every man, woman and child."

After she gave the orders she watched as everyone got to work pulling up everything they had on Ward.

While everyone was engrossed in their task she made her way over to her assistant Clarke.

She pulled him over to the corner of the room "Clarke I need you to do something for me"

He nodded "Go to her apartment and see if anything was left behind that indicates that Wards telling the truth, if there's a snake in our backyard I want to know."

She watched as Clarke slipped out of the command center. She turned back around and watched as all of Jocelyn's life was pulled up and categorized.

* * *

**AN: *DMV is an acronym that is used to decsirbe the area that contains D.C.,Maryland, and Virgina. Id thought I'd clear that up because my friend thought I was talking about the Department of Motor Vehicles.**


	8. Chapter 8

"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." ― Winston Churchill

* * *

**VIII. Retrograde**

_Motel…West Virginia...Sunday...4:30AM_

Joss pulled back into the parking spot in front of the motel she had just returned from retrieving a new car. After a few moments of decompressing she headed to her room. As she opened the front door she heard rushed footsteps coming up from behind her before she could react she felt a foot strike at her legs. She fell forward to her knees before she could reach for her gun she felt a sharp pain in the back of her skull. As she collapsed to the floor she heard the door close and the last thing she saw before her vision faded to black was a pair of black combat boots.

Ross flicked on the light switch and drew her gun as she moved around the room making sure they were the only ones there. Once she cleared the room she moved back to the body of the woman laying limp on the floor.

Ross bent down and checked her pulse to make sure she was still alive. She grabbed her hair and pulled the woman's face off the ground to make sure she got the right woman. Once she confirmed the woman was indeed Jocelyn Carter she picked her up and put her in a chair. After she was in the chair Ross pulled out plastic zip ties and restrained her arms and legs to the chair.

After making sure she was secure Ross grabbed her bag off the floor and pulled out her gun and knife and sat down on the bed facing her restrained target.

Ross sat in silence as she took in the woman's appearance. Other than losing a little weight and toning up she still looked the same as she did 6 months ago. Ross looked down at the news paper article she printed out on Detective Jocelyn Carter. The only thing about her that seemed to have changed was her name.

Ross got up and grabbed the trash bin next to the bed and headed to the bathroom and turned the water on in the tub. Once the trash bin was filled with water she walked back into the bedroom and tossed the water in Carters face to wake her up.

Ross sat back down on the bed and waited till the other woman stopped coughing.

"Good morning sunshine I hope you enjoyed your power nap" Ross asked sarcastically

All she received in reply was a glare. So she continued her line of questioning.

"Name's Ross. So what do you prefer to go by these days, Agent Ward or Detective Carter?"

When she didn't get an answer Ross reared up and backhanded her across the face.

"I'm not a patient person. So I suggest you start answering my questions before I start cutting off body parts."

Ross watched as she spit blood out of her mouth.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything" Ross replied as she sat back down on the bed.

"That's a long story"

"I've got time to spare" Ross replied

Ross watched as Carter straighten up in the chair before she spoke again.

"Where do you want me to start?"

Ross sat back "At the beginning"

* * *

_March 1999…Hospital room Germany_

Joss tried to sit up in the hospital bed but the pain in her side still hurt. She clutched her side and laid back down. Joss closed her eyes and replayed the events of that led up her injury.

"Sir I have a lead in our investigation."Joss detailed to her commanding officer

"What is it?" he replied

"There's a man living in a small town on the border named Ali, my source says he knows the name of the man behind the shipment of guns that was discovered."

"Are you sure?"

Joss straighten up "I'm positive"

"Alright then I'm sending you with a team of marines to go get him, you leave in 20."

The rest was a blur one minute they were walking into the town the next she was on her back, ears ringing and her side felt like it was on fire. Her thoughts were interrupted as the door to her hospital room opened. The orderly let two people in one man and one woman who were dressed in suits.

"Warrant Williams my name is Ava Emerson and we work for the DIA and would like to ask you some questions about what you know about Ali."

Joss took a moment to collect her thoughts before replying

"Not much I was following up on an investigation."

"Into what?" Emerson questioned

"A few months ago a unit raided a rebel base and found a container filled with 1200 guns and excess ammunition. One of the rebels that were interrogated reveled that the guns came from America. He later reveled that Ali knew the name of the seller. I was sent to find out that name but before we got their one of the Marines triggered a landmine."

Joss watched as Emerson and her colleague exchanged looks.

"Thank you for your cooperation."Emerson said as they turned to leave.

"Wait what do you know?" Joss questioned

The man replied "That's need to know and you don't"

Joss narrowed her eyes" Ali speaks Gagouz, it's not a common language, finding someone who speaks it is going to take you time. Assuming Ali hasn't fled, I don't think time is a luxury you have."

Joss watched as the female agent dismissed her colleague. Emerson stared at her from the door before she moved back towards her bed.

"This is a DIA investigation and it's against regulations for me to communicate the on goings of a active assignment with anyone outside our organization."

Joss narrowed her eyes "I thought we're all on the same team"

She watched as Emerson smirked and sat down in the chair next to her bedside.

"Same league, different teams."

Joss watched as she dropped a phone on her bed.

"So Jocelyn, are you looking to trade teams?"

Emerson stood up from her chair and walked to the door as she opened the door and she glanced over her shoulder.

"Before you decide keep in mind that once you cross over you don't get to go back." Then Emerson walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

* * *

_Motel…West Virginia...Sunday 5:00AM_

"After I made my choice they put me in the field to investigate. The trail led back to the States, to New York to be precise. I was first tracking a man named Chris Mann it was hard to keep an eye on him so I used his best friend Paul Carter to get close to him without being suspicious. Things got complicated and to maintain my cover I had to make myself seem beyond suspicion, nothing more disarming then a pregnant woman. Long story short I followed the trail and it led to dirty cops. So I played the part I had to, to get answers.

"And what were those answers" Ross interjected

"That a criminal organization named HR was using police buyback gun programs across the country to collect weapons and sell them overseas to the highest bidder. When I was able to find out who was running HR, I was pulled out of my cover. Once we questioned the head of HR we learned the name of the arms dealer they were selling to. A man named Jacob Black, so the DIA sanctioned an off the books team to find Black and bring him back to the States."

* * *

_December 2013…cargo plane…Indian Ocean _

Ross sat in the cargo hold of a drop plane as she listened to two intelligence agents by the named Ward and Frost detail their mission to find and bring back an arms dealer named Jacob Black.

The plane shook as the cargo hold opened Ross watched as the 3 other members of the team she was assigned to put their dive gear on and headed to the opening in the back of the plane. She secured her mask and parachute and glanced back at the two agents. One was an older white male with white hair and the other was a black, and judging by her accent, American woman. The woman caught her attention because it looked like she was in pain from something because she kept clutching her chest and taking deep breaths.

Ross turned back around and secured her oxygen mask and leap from the plane over the Somalian coast of Africa.

* * *

Ross was brought out of her thoughts when Carter spoke again

"How do you fit into this?"

Ross smirked "Well let's just say after you gave us those orders in that cargo plane,to find Black, the men I was paired with had other orders. To spare you the boring details, Blacks dead and now your friend Frost is tying up loose ends.

"Frost, Michael Frost?" Carter questioned

"Yep I had a little chat with my former boss back in New York turns out he wants us both dead."

Ross watched as Carter cursed under her breath.

"Well enough with the story telling. It's time to put a kink in Frosts plans."

"How do you suppose we go about doing that? No one's going to listen to either one of us without any evidence."

Ross grabbed her bag and put her gun away and stood up and grabbed her knife. Ross moved toward her and cut her ties and yanked her out of the chair.

"I guess we better find some then."Ross replied

Ross marched her out of the motel room and toward a black car. She yanked the door open and shoved her into the passenger seat and zip tied her wrist to the door handle and shut the door.

Joss watched as Ross slide into the driver's seat and started the car.

"Assuming you have a plan. Where are we going to start?" Joss questioned.

Ross smiled and turned to Carter

"Well new 'Bestie'. I thought we start with a man named Finch and his concerned third party. I hope you used the bathroom because it's a long drive back to New York."

* * *

**AN: For clarification in my AU, Jocelyn's maiden name was Williams. Then she became Jocelyn Carter when she married Paul to protect her identity,then after she "died" she became Jocelyn Ward. Alexander Ross as well as Frost and Emerson are my OC's.I tried to match the time line as best as I could with the show and I tried to make it so that Taylor's relatively the same age between(14-16) as he was in the show. **

**I should have the next two chapters up bySaturdayThe next chapters are going to be the big confrontation and the team finds out Joss is alive and as much as I would like for her and Johns reunion to be fluffy and full of hugs and kisses, I feel a heavy dose of angst and anger is appropriate especially for John.**


	9. Chapter 9

"Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear." ― Lao Tzu

* * *

**IX. Revelations**

_New York…Library…Sunday…11:00AM _

"Finch why didn't you call us" John questioned as he and Shaw stared him down.

"I didn't see the purpose of it Mr. Reese" Harold replied

"She could have killed you Finch" Shaw stated

"Yes she could have Ms. Shaw, but she didn't and even if I did contact either one of you, Ms. Ross would have already been gone by the time you would have arrived."

Harold watched as John and Shaw crossed their arms.

"If it makes you both feel better, I'll make sure that I contact you both the next time a killer steals my tea."

Harold turned back around and turned on his computer.

"As it stands now, Ms. Ross had set her sights on another target and unless she returns to New York I don't think she will be a concern for us, for now."

"Did you get a chance to ask her about..?" he heard John trail off as he questioned softly.

"Unfortunately Mr. Reese, she said she didn't know anything about Detective Carter."

Harold had to school his face as he watched disappointment run across Johns face.

"So what do we do now then?" Shaw questioned

"Until we have a new lead Ms. Shaw we continue doing what we do and hopefully we will get some answers."

* * *

_New York…Sunday… 5:00PM_

Ross watched as Carter led her into a nice looking brick building. They made their way up the stairs to the third floor and down the hall to the last door. She watched as Carter punched in a key code and opened the door.

"Wow, pretty swanky place, someone has deep pockets." Ross stated as she looked around the apartment.

"You should see his other ones." Joss replied as she closed the door.

"So what now?" Ross questioned

"We wait, once Finch sees that the safe house has been accessed they'll all show up."

Ross raided the fridge and pulled out a soda and sat down at the table and put her feet up.

Joss moved toward the window and looked out at the street.

"Anxious" Ross questioned

Joss moved back around the table and sat down.

"Among other things" Joss replied

Her chest hurt and she felt like she was going to throw up, although she wished for so long to return to New York, to return to her son and John. She didn't know what she was going to say to them.

15 years ago all she wanted to do was serve her country. Her father was a patriot and a war hero. She grew up listening to her mother tell her how he sacrificed his life to save his fellow brothers in Vietnam.

He died before she was old enough to remember him. All she had were letters he wrote to them and some pictures. She was inspired by her father to join the military. She was fueled by a deep seeded notion of patriotism to put her country before herself.

She had been naive and unprepared when she accepted the DIA's offer. Over the years she worked for them she lost herself.

She once had been a young innocent patriot who wrapped herself up in the flag and lived by words of freedom written on parchment paper. But not anymore, she didn't know who she was anymore or what she stood for.

They say you live and learn and if you practice something long enough, you get good at was good at her job but now all her work and sacrifice, all she had given up, was now going up in flames.

* * *

_New York…Library…Sunday…5:10PM_

Harold filled Bears bowl and set it on the floor and moved back to his desk. He flipped the page in Ross's file as he began sifting through the information. He was absolutely fascinated that a person could go so long in this world and not have a trail of some kind.

No birth certificate, no yearbook picture no nothing he couldn't find anything. Even though it took him a considerable amount of time he was able to find out John and Sam's beginning's. If he ever did see Ms. Ross again he would love to learn her story.

Harold was brought out of his musings as his computer beeped and his security program alerted him that someone had accessed one of his safe houses.

After pulling up the security feed in the main room he was able to see a female figure sitting at the table drinking a soda when she tilted her head he saw her face and gasped.

"Speak of the Devil." Harold muttered under his breath as he watched Ross sitting in his safe house he immediately dialed both John and Sam.

"Mr. Reese, Ms. Shaw we have a situation."

* * *

_Finch's Safe house…Sunday… 5:50PM_

John pulled up into the ally next to the building that Finch's safe house was located in.

He parked his car, got out and popped the trunk and pulled out a Kevlar vest and two back up pieces.

When he turned around Shaw was standing behind him wearing a vest too.

"After reading her file I'm not taking any chances." She stated

For once he agreed with her. From reading her file they knew that they weren't dealing with a former soldier or spy, Ross was a mercenary with no allegiances to anybody and that made her dangerous.

John closed the trunk of his car and he and Shaw made their way into the building

Joss splashed her face with water and wiped her face off with the towel that was in the bathroom. She tuned the light out and walked out of the bathroom and down the hall. She stopped in her tracks as she heard the front door get thrown open and the sound of familiar voices. Voices she hadn't heard in months.

Ross sat at the table waiting for Carter to finishing washing her face. Her thoughts were interrupted when the front door swung open and the man and woman who called themselves Reese and Shaw pointed their guns at her.

"Don't move" Reese ordered

Ross smirked at him

"Took you long enough"

"I wouldn't be so smug if I were you Ross considering your trespassing" Shaw stated

Ross turned her eyes on Shaw

"It's not trespassing if you were let in."

"And who let you in?"John questioned

Ross smiled but before she could respond Carter did for her.

"I did" Carter replied

Ross watched as Reese and Shaw turned their guns to the hallway behind her as Carter walked out of the back.

"No freaking way" Shaw responded first

* * *

Harold barley remembered to breathe as he watched the events unfold on his computer. They all stared at the figure of a dead woman, the woman they saw die, the friend he saw die.

"Impossible" Harold muttered as he took in the face of Jocelyn Carter, standing alive and well in his safe house. Harold went into auto pilot as he gathered his things and Bear and rushed out of the library and headed toward the safe house.

* * *

John felt his heart stop as soon as she spoke those two words. He had never in his life felt so many overwhelming emotions hit him all at once. He nearly dropped his gun when his arms fell limp at his side.

In a voice so soft and raspy he barely recognized it as his own. He let four letters he hadn't spoken out loud in 7 months fall from his lips.

"Joss?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Choices made, whether bad or good, follow you forever and affect everyone in their path one way or another." ― J.E.B. Spredemann

* * *

**X. Bittersweet**

_DIA Operations Center…Bethesda Maryland…Sunday…6:00PM_

Frost watched as the analyst pulled up all the information they had on Jocelyn from her time in the military to the time she joined the DIA. He was brought out of his thoughts as the picture of a young teenage boy was pulled up on the screen.

A smile drew across his face as he read the name 'Taylor Carter' affiliation: Biological son. He flicked his phone open and walked out of the room telling Emerson he had a personal call to take.

Once he was in the hallway alone he dialed out to a number after two rings the line opened up.

"Change of plans there's a boy in New York named Taylor Carter, pick him up and take him to 'The House' and leave a message for Ward and Ross. I'll send you the address to where he lives, he's just a kid so he shouldn't be a problem, and I don't care what you do to the father."

After giving his orders he hung up. Highly trained operative or not, Jocelyn Ward was a woman and a mother. As the old saying goes there's nothing a mother won't do for their child.

* * *

_New York… Finch's safe house…Sunday…6:00PM_

The room was dead silent as they all stared at each other. Joss felt her eyes begin to water as she stared at John. The look on his face was breaking her heart, he looked like he was going to have a mental break down.

She opened her mouth to say something but her words were stuck in her throat. Her thoughts were interrupted by the clicking of a gun.

"Alright somebody better start talking or I am going to start shooting." Shaw stated as she stood with guns aimed at both her and Ross.

"Gladly… I'm a unemployed mercenary, she's a government operative turned traitor to her country and we need the dude with the glasses help to find and stop Michael Frost from potentially getting a bunch of US soldiers overseas killed." Ross replied as though she was commenting on the weather.

"Unfortunately Ms. Ross we need a little more detail than that." Harold replied as he walked through the door with Bear.

Joss finally found her words and tore her eyes off of John and towards Harold.

"That's a long story Harold."

"Well then I suggest we all sit down and talk. We all have a lot of questions for you Detective.. Ms. Carter."

Joss moved toward the table and sat down next to Ross. She watched as Harold sat down across the table in front of them and John and Shaw stood to their right.

Joss felt something wet touch her wrist she reached down and scratched Bears ear before he licked her hand and went to lay down by Harold's feet.

She had a sense of Déjà vu. The last time a person was interrogated in the safe house it was a corrupt DA who was framed for murder by her husband, now it was her on the other side about to be put in the hot seat.

"I suppose I should start at the begging." Joss stated

* * *

_1 hour later_

They all sat in silence as she watched Harold, John and Sam digest all the information she told them.

Harold was the first to start asking questions.

"I don't understand how were you able to anticipate that Simmons was going to show up at the precinct."

"We didn't, Simmons surprised my extraction team. The original plan was for me to leave and die in a car 'accident'. No one was supposed to get shot that night, Simmons surprised us and my extraction team improvised. They used a hollow point small caliber bullet that had a mix of Organophosphates in it.

"Small bullet and good marksmanship aside, how'd you survive getting shot in the heart?"Shaw questioned

"I have Dextrocardia Situs Inversus" Joss replied

Harold scrunched his eyebrows together.

"What's that mean?"

"It means her hearts on the opposite side of her chest."Shaw stated

Joss looked up at John, the entire time he hadn't said a word before she could say anything to him,he turned from the table and stormed out of the safe house and before she knew what she was doing her legs carried her after him.

Ross watched as Joss followed the man named Reese out of the door. She turned her eyes back to Finch and Shaw and watched as they exchanged concerned glances.

Ross cracked her neck and drew their attention towards her.

"Alright now that you know everything are you going to help or not?"

Harold raised his eyebrow at her

"I wasn't aware that you cared about the plight of others Ms. Ross."

Ross smiled at Finch

"I don't, I just want Frost dead. You providing help is only a way to keep the body count low."

* * *

John was furious, as he marched out of the building into the early night air. He didn't know what he was madder at, the fact that she lied to him, the fact that she faked her own death, or the fact that she let him go all this time believing she was dead because he failed to protect her.

He yanked his car keys from his pocket and stormed to his car in the ally. He had to get away before his anger made him do something he would regret later. He sped up his pace when he heard her voice call to him from behind.

"John please wait" Joss pleaded for the second time as she hurried to catch him before he got to his car.

He ignored her and started walking faster. She ran up to him put herself in front of the driver's side and touched his arm. He yanked his arm away from her like her touch was acid and turned his back on her and faced away from the car.

"John please talk to me."

"And say what. How glad I am to see you, that I'm happy you're alive?" He questioned with his back still to her.

"John…I know" Joss started to say but was interrupted when John turned around and glared at her.

"You know what? How I'm feeling. What I've been dealing with for the past 213 days or the fact that I can barley sleep at night because every time I close my eyes I see you dead in my arms."

Joss lowered her head to hide her tears he was ripping her heart out and she deserved it.

"How could you do this? John questioned

He let out a half hearted laugh

"I guess I don't know you at all, to be able to know what you can and can't do"

"Was everything out of your mouth for the past two and a half years a lie? Was everything you ever told me and did to try and help me a lie? Did you even mean what you said to Donnelly? Did you even care at all?"

Joss snapped her head up

"Of course I cared John and I meant every word I ever said to you and I still do."

John stared at her for a moment.

"I don't believe you"

Joss sighed "John I'm sorry I did what I had to do. What did you expect me to do?"

Joss was taken aback by the look on Johns face, for the first time since she ever meant him, she was afraid.

He smashed his fist through the glass of his back window and stalked towards her.

"You're sorry, sorry and what did I expect you to do? I expected for you to not fucking lie to me."

"You know Harold was right the first time, I should have cut ties with you when you got me shot by Snow, for all I know you were working with him all along."

Then he stepped into her personal space and got in her face.

"For all I know you were working with Kara too. You know what? I actually prefer Kara over you, at least I knew what type of person she was from the start. The DIA did a good job picking you, because who would have known that behind your eyes was a two faced lying heartless bitch."

Before Joss could control herself she cocked her fist back and socked John in the face and starting yelling back at him.

"Fuck you John. You don't get to judge who I really am. I had been doing my job for 13 years before I even met you. You know the world we operate in, telling the truth to anybody can get yourself and innocent people killed. What was I suppose to do give up national secrets and blow my cover to a rogue CIA operative, just because you say so. I didn't know who you were and I still don't know who you really are."

Joss squared her shoulders and continued.

"I am sorry that I lied to you and everyone else, but I did what I thought was right to make sure that I did my job and to make sure that you ,Sam, Harold and his machine stayed off the governments radar."

She saw Johns eyes widen when she mentioned Harold's machine.

"Yeah John I know about Harold's machine. You can hate me all you want for lying to you but don't think for a second you can stand here and degrade me for doing my job. You can't judge the choir when you were in the fucking stands with us."

Joss watched as John straightened up and walked back to his car he looked at her over his shoulder.

"This is your mess, you're on your own, and I'm not coming to save you."Joss watched as he yanked open the car door and sped out of the ally.

* * *

"So Ms. Ross how were you able to find Ms. Carter?"

Ross smiled at Finch

"Funny you should ask." Before she could finish her statement Harold's phone watched as he answered and begun writing a number on a piece of paper.

As soon as he put the phone down Shaw questioned him

"New number, do we need to go figure out who it is?"

They both watched as Harold got to his feet in haste.

"No need Ms. Shaw, I know who the number is."

Just as Finch replied Joss walked back into the apartment.

Harold turned to her

"Jocelyn, your son's in danger." Finch frantically stated.

* * *

**AN: Well hopefully that was intense enough. I know that John would never put his hands on a woman in anger, so I settled for some heated cursing.**

**For some clarification on terms**

** Dextrocardia with situs inversus is a condition in which the heart as well as other organs such as the lungs, liver, stomach, and gallbladder are a mirror image of the normal.**

**Organophosphates is an insecticide poison that can trigger bradycardia which is a slowing down of ones heartbeat.**


	11. Chapter 11

_If you took away my ability to tell time as I stared into the blue hour sky I wouldn't be able to tell if it was sunrise or sunset.-Unknown_

* * *

**XI. Blue Hour**

_New York…Sunday…9:00PM_

Taylor quietly shut his bedroom door and moved over to his desk and sat down. He had just got home from the library, he was starting to spend more of his free time there.

His eyes drifted to the picture frame on his desk. It was his mom's favorite picture of them. It was his 10th birthday and she took him to Disney World for the first time. A smile spread across his face as he looked at them standing in front of the Magic Kingdom with Mickey ear hats on.

He gently grabbed the chain around his neck and rubbed the two metal dog tags at the end. When he and his father were packing up the house he found her dog tag and ever since then he hadn't taken them off.

The smile slide from his face as his eyes fell on the object of his disdain. He silently hated that his Dad had it framed and left it in his room as a reminder.

Taylor remembered the day that they told him his mother was dead. He didn't believe it. When he and his father and grandma were looking at her body through the viewing glass in the morgue, he felt numb. All he could remember thinking was that the body was fake, that the lifeless corpse looked nothing like his mother. He tried to justify it in his head that someone made a replica of her body or that his mother had an identical twin and it was a bad case of mistaken identity. He still felt numb, he felt like he was in a haze during the wake and her funeral.

Even the gun salute didn't bring him out of it. He barely responded when the people at her funeral offered him and his father their condolences. Then all of a sudden they folded the flag on her coffin and placed it in his arms. He stared at the flag, the American flag, red, white, and blue in all its glory folded in a perfect triangle.

By the time he looked up everyone but his father was gone and her casket had been lowered into the ground. All he remembered feeling was confusion and disbelief. A flag, a cheap made in China 20 dollar flag. His mother was dead and in the ground because the NYPD didn't do their jobs. She was gone and never coming back and all he had to show for it was a fucking flag.

In that moment a rage so deep consumed him. All these people telling him how much his mother did for them but miraculously none of them came to her aid when she needed it. He was furious he wanted to get a gun and kill every member of HR.

He was getting better at managing his anger. It was now a slow sizzle that only acted up when he had nothing to preoccupy his time with. He reached down into his bookbag and pulled out a packet of supplemental math problems that his teacher gave him.

He always had done well in math and after his Mom died he started focusing on it more. His teacher even recommended that he considering joining an outside of school math program. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock at the front door then he heard the commotion of a struggle. Before he had time to grab his phone, his bedroom door was kicked in and his room filled with gas. The last thing he remembered were men wearing black and gas mask surrounded him before he fell unconscious.

* * *

Joss sped through traffic racing to Paul's apartment. Her entire world could crash and burn as long as Taylor was safe.

At first when she got pregnant she used it as her cover thinking once the baby was born she could give it up for adoption. As soon as the nurse put him in her arms she was mystified. He was so tiny, so delicate and she knew right then and there that she would do whatever it took to protect him.

She gripped the steering wheel as her focus returned. If Frost or his men harmed her son in anyway shape or form she was going to put everyone in the ground.

Ross sat in the back seat of a black town car as she watched Shaw swerve through traffic following Carter.

"So do either of you have a plan."Ross questioned

"Shoot first, ask questions later." Shaw replied

"What Ms. Shaw means is that we have informed our contact within the police department and shall take precaution in approaching the situation." Finch responded

Ross sighed and sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. She was brought out of her meditation by heavy panting.

She turned her head and opened her eyes and stared as the gold and black dog sat uncomfortably close to her face with his tongue sticking out.

"What are you looking at dog?" Ross asked

"Ms. Ross please do try to be nice to Bear."Finch stated

When the dog heard his name he barked and licked the side of her face and sniffed her hair.

"Not a fan of dogs Ross?" Shaw commented grinning.

"It's just surprising, dogs usually hate me" Ross replied

Ross scoffed as she leaned into the door to get Bear away from her face.

* * *

Joss pulled up in front of the apartment building and got out not even bothering to take the keys out of the ignition. She ran into the building and made her way to the 4th floor before she could round the corner and hand grabbed her arm. She turned to see Shaw followed closely by Ross, Harold, and Bear.

Shaw reached behind her back and handed her a gun.

"I think you might need this mama bear." Shaw stated

She nodded to Shaw and took the gun as they both moved in formation to the apartment door that was left ajar. As they moved into the apartment they saw the remnant of a struggle. In the walk way was the limp body of a dead man dressed in black tactical gear and from the looks of the position of his head his neck was broken.

As they moved into the living room they saw another downed and probably dead kidnapper. A short distance from him was the slumped over form of Paul. Joss moved closer to him and checked his pulse. She let out a sigh of relief he was alive, unconscious, but alive.

Shaw tapped her shoulder and nodded to the lone picture frame sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room. Joss picked up the picture frame and as soon as she turned it over her heart dropped to her feet.

She slowly sat down on the couch behind her and stared at the picture of her and Taylor from when they went to Disney World across the glass of the frame where written in black marker where numbers. She slowly opened the picture frame and removed the picture, making the writing on the glass more legible.

Written in black marker across the frame read '2°47'19.6"N 72°16'55.0"W followed by her and Ross' names.

"They have Taylor and they want Ross and me to come get him." Joss stated

Ross walked up to Carter and grabbed the frame and turned toward Finch and Shaw.

"Either one of you have a GPS"

Ross watched as Finch pulled out his phone and asked her for the coordinates.

"It's the coordinates to a rural area in Colombia, how do they expect you both to get down there?" Finch questioned

"I know a way" Ross stated as she turned toward Finch.

"How fast can you get your hands on 1.5 million dollars?"

Finch raised his eyebrow

"Immediately Ms. Ross. why?"

"I'm about to cash in a favor and I need a down payment." Ross stated

Harold's eyes drifted to Jocelyn as she still sat on the couch staring at the picture of her son. After a moment he turned his eyes back to Ross.

"Consider it done Ms. Ross, when do you need it."

Ross turned back toward Joss and snapped her fingers in her face.

"Hey collect yourself, if you want your kid back, we have work to do."

They all made their way back out side

"Meet us at the Teterboro airport in 5 hours and bring whatever you need for a wire transfer" Ross stated

Finch and Shaw watched as Ross and Carter drove away.

As soon as they left a police cruiser pulled up.

"Alright glasses what the hell is going on? First you have me looking around for s potential psycho contact killer, and then you tell me Carters kids in trouble." Fusco stated as he moved toward them.

"Detective Fusco, I would love to explain what's going on but there's a matter that requires my immediate attention." Harold stated as he moved toward his car with Bear and drove away.

Fusco turned toward Shaw

"Did you call back up and an ambulance" Shaw asked

"Yeah, why?" Fusco replied

"Good then they can handle this" Shaw stated as she moved toward Fusco's car.

Fusco followed her and got into his car.

"Alright tell me what's going on?"

Fusco watched as Shaw pulled her phone out and pulled up a map.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you on the way."

Fusco started the car

"On the way where?" Fusco questioned.

"To get John." Sam stated

* * *

**AN: the term Blue Hour refers to the period of twilight each morning and evening where there is neither full daylight nor complete darkness.**


	12. Chapter 12

You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.-Albert Einstein

* * *

**XII. Double Down**

_New York…Sunday…11:30 PM_

Joss watched as Ross pulled the car into the warehouse district.

"What's the plan?" Joss asked

"Where going to Colombia, I have a connection that can get us their fast for a small fee. Once we're done here, we go to the airport, get on the cargo plane, rescue your son and kill Frost and anyone else who gets in our way."

Joss watched as she parked the car next to a seemingly abandoned warehouse. Ross got out of the car and she followed.

"Why are we here?" Joss questioned.

"Because Carter we can't storm the Bastille without some heavy fire power" Ross stated as she knocked on the door.

* * *

_New York…Central Park…Monday 12:15AM_

John sat on the park bench staring at the dried blood on his hand. When he punched his window out, the broken glass cut his hand up.

He didn't know what to do, he felt so lost. So many thoughts and emotions were running rampant throughout his mind.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He shouldn't have said the things he said to her. But he was angry and he wanted her to feel what he was feeling. He told her that she was on her own but he knew deep down that he didn't mean it. That was the part that made him angry, even after all the pain and suffering and all of the lies he knew that he still wanted to protect her.

He was brought out of his thoughts as his phone rang again he looked at it and after seeing that it was Shaw he ignored it.

"That was rude" Shaw stated as she and Fusco appeared in front of him.

"I'm not in the mood Shaw." John stated as he glared at her

"Yeah well neither am I" Shaw fired back

"Why are you here" John asked not really caring what her answer was.

"I'm just here to give you the facts since you keep ignoring our calls" Shaw replied

"I just thought you should know that Frost's men kidnapped Carters son and now she and Ross are getting ready to go to Colombia to save him. If you're not going to help them then I will, so if you want to sit here like a pansy then be my guest but you better start answering your phone just in case Finch needs you."

John watched as Shaw glared at him and then walked away

He sat still for a moment as he took in Shaws' words. Taylor was in danger and Joss was about to walk into a trap to get him back.

"Hey listen wonder boy I know you ain't about to let them do this alone?' Fusco questioned him

"And if I do?" John replied as he got up

"Then you ain't the man I thought you were."

John turned his back to Fusco and started to walk away when Fuscos words stopped him

"You know I'm pissed too. I may not know anything about this spy bullshit but if she didn't care about any of us, she wouldn't have moved a dead body for me and she certainly wouldn't have stuck her neck out and tampered with federal evidence to bust your sorry ass out of prison."

When Fusco was done talking he made his way back to his car and headed in the direction of the library.

* * *

_New York...Library…Monday…12:50 AM_

Harold pulled his laptop out and secured a line of funds that Ross requested. He was disrupted from his thoughts as he heard Sam drop a black bag and a vest onto the table

"Ms. Shaw isn't that vest too big for you?"

"It's not for me Finch." Shaw replied

Before he could ask who it was for, he saw John walk into the library. As soon as he was close enough Shaw threw the vest at him and marched out of the library saying shed be in the car.

Harold grabbed what he needed for Ross's request and walked over to John.

He watched as John secured his vest and checked the bag full of guns.

"Mr. Reese I am glad you have decided to help."

Harold watched as he nodded silently. Harold felt his heart ache when he saw the whirlwind of emotions in John's eyes. He at first thought he should keep his opinions to himself but perhaps some words of wisdom could give John some much needed clarity.

"Mr. Reese you are not the only one feeling conflicted and although my personal feelings aside, I do understand Jocelyn's need to do what she felt was necessary."

He watched as confusion and shock ran across Johns face.

"It is very difficult to make decisions for others especially when they don't have a say in the matter. It's a very heavy burden to bear when one has to continue living on while their love ones think you are dead.

Flashes of Graces' distraught face came to the forefront of his mind but he continued on.

"But know this Mr. Reese I do believe that Jocelyn did what she had to because she believed that it was in everyone's best interest."

Harold bent down and picked up Bears leash and made his way to the exit with John following behind him.

* * *

_New York...Teterboro Airport…Monday… 3:30 AM_

Joss stood and stared at the cargo plane as pallets of cocaine were being unloaded. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Ross walk up beside her.

"For some reason it doesn't surprise me that you know a Colombian drug trafficker."

"What can I say my former employers believed in outsourcing services." Ross replied

"When we get to the location it will be nightfall and will use the cover of darkness to our advantage" Ross stated

The closing of car doors drew their attention away from the plane. Joss turned around and saw Harold, Sam, and John standing behind them.

She had to compose herself as they stared at one another. Their staring contest was disrupted when they heard the crew members signal the plane was getting ready to leave. Joss picked up her bag and nodded to Harold and Shaw before she turned around and boarded the plane.

Ross watched as Carter boarded the plane first and Reese followed. She turned back to Finch and Shaw

"So I take it he's coming with us. Is that a good idea?" Ross asked

"Yes Ms Ross, I am confident that both Mr. Reese and Ms. Carter will set aside their differences for Taylor's sake." Harold replied

Ross picked up her bag and let out a sigh as she marched to the plane.

* * *

**AN: Hopefully i'll have the next chapter up by Friday. Next chapter Ross,Joss and John track down the bad guys,and find out Frosts motivation. I'm going to try and make it as action packed and realistic as possible and of course John and Joss try to deal with their tension.**


	13. Chapter 13

"Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences."-Robert Louis Stevenson

* * *

**XIII. John 8:32**

_DIA Operations Center…Bethesda Maryland…Monday…8:00AM_

Emerson brushed her teeth and changed her shirt while she was in her office. They still had no idea where Ward was. Just as she finished buttoning her shirt her phone rang.

"Emerson" Ava stated.

"Ma'am I found something."

"What is it Clarke."

"I came back to the scene like you asked , but I found nothing in the apartment."

"I thought you said you found something?" Emerson questioned

"I did, do you have the still frames of the security footage?" Clarke asked

Emerson scanned around her desk and sifted through papers until she found the still frames.

"Yeah, I have them what am I looking for?" Emerson questioned.

"Underneath Ward's apartment is a convenient store and it has a sign that reads 'OPEN'."

Emerson looked at the sign.

"Yeah, what about it." Emerson questioned

"Which letter in the word OPEN is illuminated?" Clarke asked

Emerson looked closely at the picture and noticed that the letter 'P' was lighter than the other letters.

"It's the letter 'P', but what does that tell me Clarke?"Emerson asked

"How long is the letter illuminated for?"

Emerson began to flip through the pictures.

"It looks like all of them. Why?"

"Because I'm looking at the sign right now and the letters light up individually every 3 seconds."

"Damn, someone tampered with the security footage." Emerson stated

"Yeah lucky for us there's an ATM across the street and it has a security camera in it. I contacted the company and they are sending us the video."Clarke replied

"Good job Clarke, get back here as soon as you can."

As soon as she got off the phone with Clarke she dialed Crawford. After a few rings he picked up.

"Sir there's been a development. I think Ward was telling the truth."

* * *

_Colombia…Monday… 11:30 pm_

Joss crouched down and mounted her scope and silencer onto her sniper rifle. After she readied her weapon she took her position on the embankment by the forest line 210 yards from the secluded house.

_Cargo plane…Monday...9:30AM_

Ross watched with a smirk on her face as Carter and Reese sat on opposite sides of the cargo hold glaring at one another. Ross rolled her eyes they had been glaring at each other since they got on the plane.

"Do you have something to say Carter?" John asked

"Nope, just surprised you came." Joss replied

"I'm not going to let an innocent person get hurt because of your past and mistakes." John fired back

Carter laughed "That's rich coming from you. I'm sure Donnelly would have appreciated that sentiment before your past mistake put a bullet in his head."

"So Carter tell me, does Paul know you used him, as a matter of fact is the kid even yours or is he just another expendable prop piece for you to use and discard when you're done." John stated.

Ross watched as Carter stood up and pulled a combat knife from her boot.

"Talk about my son like that again and I'll cut your tongue out and shove it up your pretentious ass." Carter fired back

Ross let out a laugh and clapped her hands drawing Carter and Reese's attention towards her.

"Alright Whitney and Bobby, how about you both save the spousal drama for when we're back on American soil." Ross stated.

She watched as Carter sat back down and after glaring at each other one more time, they both crossed their arms and stubbornly turned their heads away from one another. Ross shook her head and looked at her watch.

"We'll be landing in 45 minutes, once we are on the ground we will do some reconnaissance, then will wait till midnight to strike, then we have until 5 AM to get back to the plane."

_Colombia…11:50PM…Monday_

After 5 hours of monitoring they were able to identify 11 men in total.

Every 15 minutes, 6 armed men would walk a grid pattern perimeter check around the house. After 3 hours they would change out shifts. Joss looked at her watch, 12:00AM, go time.

She leaned down and looked through her night version scope and started giving the locations of the men walking the pattern around the house.

"Ross you got one on your 2'oclock, closing in 50 yards…20 yards, you're a go." Joss relayed into her mic

Joss watched as the man turned his back away from the bushes Ross was hiding behind. She watched as Ross silently rose from behind the bush. She moved behind the guy and brought her foot into the back of the man's leg causing him to fall to his knees, before he had time to make a sound, Ross grabbed his head and snapped his neck. She drug his body behind the bushes and moved closer to the house and hid behind the large tree on the right side of the house.

Joss turned her scope towards the North West side of the house and tracked the man approaching John's location.

"John on your 10'oclock, closing in 20 yards… 10 yards, you're a go."

Joss watched as John swiftly moved from behind the side of the truck and walked up behind the man. He grabbed the man's gun arm and twisted until he dropped the gun and then he shove his hand over the man's mouth and knocked him onto his back and broke his neck.

Joss watched as he rolled the man under the truck and disappeared onto the other side of the house. Once Ross and John picked off the remaining four guards she grabbed her bag and made her way toward the house.

"Alright there should be 5 more in the house. I'll go in through the kitchen. Reese you take the living room window, and Carter you take the upstairs window above the porch." Ross stated before she disappeared around the back of the house.

Joss turned her focus back around and found herself looking at John, as she stared into his eyes she wanted to say something to him but when she opened her mouth nothing came out. So she closed her mouth and moved to his side and reached for the rain gutter so she could climb up on the roof above the porch. Just as her hand touched the gutter she felt a grip on her upper arm.

John pulled her close and stared at her she felt like he wanted to say something but he shook his head and schooled his face.

"Watch your back Joss."

He turned her around and grabbed her hips and lifted her onto his shoulder, and then he turned around and hosted her up so she could grab the ledge of the porch. Once she had a firm grip she pulled herself onto the top of the porch.

Once she had her footing on the porch she looked over the edge to thank John but he was gone. She closed her eyes, refocused and moved on.

She moved to the window and pulled it up and climbed through. Once she was inside she crouched down and silently closed it. She began moving down the hallway clearing the rooms upstairs.

As she was making her way down the hallway she heard the sound of a toilet flush. She moved to the side of the door and waited. After a few seconds the door opened and a man began to walk out.

She grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face into the door jab, when the man fell to his knees she cocked her gun back and bash it into the back of his head and watched him hit the ground. She quickly shoved his body inside the bathroom and shut the door and made her way down the hall towards the staircase.

* * *

John moved silently through the living room window. He peered around the corner and saw a man sitting on the couch watching a small TV. John slide down the wall and crouched, so that man wouldn't see his reflection in the TV screen and moved toward the couch. Once he was against the couch he leveled the silenced gun and fired two rounds into the man chest from behind the couch.

He heard a squeak and drew his gun and pointed to his left but once he saw that it was Ross he lowered his gun.

"Where's Carter?" Ross asked

Before he could reply he heard a gunshot go off.

* * *

As Joss made her way to the top of the stairs she heard a faint squeak she turned around just in time to see a man pointing a gun in her face, she moved her head to the side and the bullet grazed her shoulder. Before she had time to react the man rushed her causing them both to tumble down the stairs.

After a few seconds of falling they hit the bottom of the stairs. Before she had time to defend herself the man grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head against the wall.

John and Ross watched as two figures tumbled down the stairs. By the time they realized one of the figures was Joss the man had already slammed her head into the wall.

Before she could react she watched John strong arm the man into the wall. Ross saw her opening and grabbed Carter and dragged her away from the fight.

John saw red as soon as he saw the man put his hands on Joss.

One second he was standing by the couch the next second he had shoved the man against the wall and began to repeatedly striking him in the face. He could hear the sound of cartledge and teeth cracking, he didn't realized how hard he was hitting the man until the man slumped to the side and his fist went through the dry wall.

Once the man slumped to the floor he turned around to see if Joss was okay. He saw Ross kneeling next to her as she sat propped up against the back of the couch.

Ross looked at Carter as she groaned and tried to shake the dizziness from her head. Before Ross had time to check the other side of Carter face, she was shoved out of the way by Reese. She barley caught herself from falling backwards and muttered under her breath 'rude', but clearly he was to busy caressing Carters face and asking if she was alright, to hear what she said.

Ross stood up and surveyed Reese's damage. As she looked at the man slumped on the floor she knew he was dead. Her eyes drifted to the hole in the wall and back down to the man's bloody face, yeah he was definitely dead.

As she looked around the room she saw a key pad next to the door that she presumed led to the basement. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard shuffling.

She turned her head and watched as Reese helped Carter to her feet. She watched as they held onto each other and locked eyes.

Ross rolled her eyes and disrupted their moment.

"Hey love birds, you two can suck face later, we have some questioning to do." Ross turned and moved back into the kitchen, where she bound the man she assumed to be in charge to the kitchen chair. She marched up to the man and slapped him across the face.

"You ready to tell me what I want to know yet?" Ross questioned

Ross pulled her knife from her hip and waved it in his face.

"You better start talking before I neuter you." Ross stated

The man remained silent; Ross looked over her shoulder and nodded at Reese.

"Your choice,Reese come hold him down."

Ross watched as Reese moved behind the chair and pressed down on the man's shoulders. Ross reached for his pants button and unzipped them, just as she reached for the waist band of his underwear he caved.

"Okay, okay. Fucking stop you crazy bitch!"

Ross removed her hand.

"Now who do you work for?"

"We were hired by a group of private defense contractors. I work under Frost, he used some ring of dirty cops to sell street weapons to an arms dealer. The dealer would then sell the shipment to militant and extremists groups at Frost's request."

"Why?" Ross questioned

"For the money, each shipment of weapons came with the location of a military base or convoy route. Frost wanted more dead soldiers'. The more dead bodies meant, angrier Americans. Eventually Congress would have no choice but to approve an increase in the defense budget and in doing so.

"More business for private contractors." John replied

Ross let out a sigh and straightened up.

"All this, for more money?" Carter questioned

The man let out a sarcastic laugh

"Why do you sound so surprised. Money and power rule the world, always has and always will." The man stated

"I don't suppose you have evidence of this?"Ross questioned

"Depends, are you going to kill me?" the man questioned

Ross smiled and twirled her knife in her hand and leaned into his face.

"That's the least painful thing I could do to you." Ross replied

The man raised his chin.

"Around my neck"

Ross reached around his neck and pulled on a necklace with a flash drive attached to it. She looked him in the eye and raised an eyebrow.

"How convenient?" Ross questioned

"When you get in bed with snakes you should always make sure your well protected." The man replied

"Where's the boy?" John questioned the man

"He's in the basement, drugged, but alive"

"What's the code to the door?" Joss demanded

"2434"

As soon as she had the code, both Carter and Reese moved out of the kitchen and into the basement. Once Ross heard them descend down the stairs she turned back towards the man bound to the chair.

* * *

"You know Frost is long gone by now. I'm suppose to send him an updated every 15 minutes."

Ross turned around and began walking out of the kitchen before she walked pass the door jab she turned back around and fired a bullet into the man's head before she made her way into the basement.

As soon as Joss had the door open she rushed down the stairs'. As she moved away from the staircase she saw Taylors prone figure lying on the floor with his wrist and ankles bound with zip ties.

Before she knew it she was on the ground next to him checking his pulse. She felt a weight being lifted off her shoulder when she detected a steady beat. She closed her eyes and kissed his forehead as tears leaked from her eyes.

She opened her eyes when she felt him move. She looked up she saw John cutting the ties from Taylor's wrist and feet. As she made eye contact with his eyes the words fell from her mouth.

"Thank you, Thank you so much John."

He gently touched her arm and for the first time since they reunited he smiled at her.

Ross stood at the foot of the stairs watching Carter and Reese smile at each other. Ross looked around the room and spotted a lone table with syringes filled with sedatives. She sighed as she grabbed them and made her way over to Carter and Reese, time to burst Carter's bubble.

"So what are you going to do Carter?" Ross questioned

Ross watched as Carter and Reese stared at her in confusion.

"As soon as he wakes up and sees you, his life's never going to be the same, he could possibly end up in danger." Ross stated

Ross watched as Reese closed his eyes as the realization of what she was saying dawned on him.

"Who's to say all of your enemies are dead or discouraged, as soon as he knows your alive he's going to want to stay with you. Are you prepared to drag him into our world? Cause the only way he'll be safe with you is if you turn him into one of us."Ross stated

She watched as the truth began to sink in and Carter held her son closer.

Ross crouched down and out stretched the hand that held the syringes full of sedatives, as she waited for Carter to make her decision.

After a few moments Carter slowly grabbed the syringes out of her hand.

Ross stood up, as hard as it may be on her now, she made the right choice. Keeping the kid unconscious on the way back to New York was the only way to keep him would never know his mother was alive and that she saved him.

Living a life filled with paranoia and lies were no place for anyone, especially not a child.

In their world their past always had a way of catching up with you. Once the DIA knew the truth who's to say they will let bygones be bygones. If Carter really loved her son she would do whatever it took to protect him, even if that meant letting him go forever.

Ross was brought out of her thoughts as her watch beeped indicating that it was 4:00 AM.

"Alright let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

**AN: John 8:32 is in reference to the Biblical verse in the Christian Bible that states: "and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.".It's also the motto of the CIA.**


	14. Chapter 14

"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them."- Ralph G. Nichols

* * *

**XIV. Requiem**

_11:30AM…Baltimore Maryland…Tuesday_

Emerson walked into her house and tossed her stuff on the couch. She was tired and needed a shower and her bed.

The past few days were tiring. Her asset was still in the wind and the agency was under review because of Frost.

_DIA Operations Center…Bethesda Maryland…2:00AM…Tuesday_

Emerson was going over some of the paper files they had on Ward. She was looking at a surveillance picture of Ward when she was working under the name of Jocelyn Carter. It was a still frame of her in a DOD facility in New York.

She was holding the arm of an older white male as her police partner, Detective Fusco was trying to pull her away. After doing some digging she found out that man in the suit was a rouge of the CIA.

She asked the CIA for their file on the man but they had told her he was confirmed dead and then they told her if she had any more questions she would have to file the proper departmental paperwork and they would get back to her as soon as possible. Which was CIA speak for 'fuck off'.

She rubbed her eyes and looked up in time to see Frost look at his phone and then he excused himself to the bathroom. She rolled her eyes and continued combing through the files.

_DIA Operations Center…Bethesda Maryland…3:15 AM…Tuesday_

Emerson was brought out of her reading as Clarke rushed into the command room.

"Ma'am the ATM Company sent us the security footage, its ready and loaded on the center consul."

Emerson watched as the video feed played although the video was grainy they were able to clear it up.

They all watched in silence as the feed showed Frost and his men removing evidence form Ward's apartment and bringing in evidence to incriminate Ward.

"Son of a bitch!" Emerson shouted

"Clarke, call security and tell them to lock down the building. No one in or out, also make sure they freeze Frosts access card."

Emerson pulled her gun from her hip and marched down the hall and stormed into the men's bathroom. After combing the entire building, security confirmed that Frost had left an hour earlier.

By now the bastard was in the wind.

* * *

_Baltimore Maryland…12:00PM…Tuesday_

Emerson walked into her bedroom and stopped in her tracks, sitting on her bed was a yellow envelope. She slowly approached the bed and picked it up and emptied the contents. She slowly picked up the flash drive and the single piece of paper.

On the back of the paper were the words 'all you need'. When she turned the piece of paper over she found herself looking at an obituary column in the New York paper that had the death of Jocelyn Carter circled.

A smile spread across her face, she guessed it was time to have her asset officially declared dead.

It was a pity she had a promising future with the agency. Emerson gathered her stuff and went back to the agency to turn in the flash drive.

* * *

_New York…1:30PM…Tuesday_

Ross made her way up the crowded street as she made her way over to two figures and dog sitting outside a tavern. As she approached, they stood up. Ross watched as Shaw scanned the crowd.

"Where's Carter?"

"She had to make a special delivery." Ross replied

"What will you do know Ms. Ross?"Finch questioned

Ross shrugged her shoulders.

"I know you are aware Ms. Ross of the job offer I gave Ms. Carter, It would be rude of me if I didn't offer you the same thing as well."Harold stated

"I'm not one for saving the world Finch." Ross replied

"I had a feeling you would say that Ms. Ross."Harold responded back with a smile and handed her a piece of paper.

Ross grabbed the paper and looked at the phone number written on it.

"Just in case you change your mind, the offer will be long standing." Finch stated

Ross looked back up and noticed Shaw's irritated look and followed her line of sight into the tavern. Ross spotted Reese sitting at the bar drinking.

"I see he's still brooding." Ross stated

Shaw snorted "Yeah, overly emotional is his middle name."

Ross watched as Shaw turned toward Finch

"I'm hungry Harold and you're buying."Shaw demanded

Ross watched as Finch grabbed Bears leash, he bid her goodbye and walked away with Shaw. Ross turned her attention back to Reese and walked into the tavern and sat down at the bar and ordered a BLT to go.

"Are you here to lecture me too?" John asked

"Now why would I do that old man?"Ross questioned

"I take it you turned down Finch's offer?"

"Maybe." Ross replied

After a few minutes John started to speak again.

"They want me to forget and move on. How am I supposed to do that?"John questioned

Ross rolled her eyes."Not forget, forgive, two totally different things."

John shook his head slowly.

"It's not that simple."

Ross laughed "Since when has anything ever been."

John turned toward her.

"What would you do, if you were me?"

Ross narrowed her eyes at him. "That depends"

"On what?" John questioned

"On if in this scenario, I'm still in love with her."

Ross watched in amusement as John's eyes widened then he looked down.

"That easy to read." John asked

"Yeah, you have a terrible poker face"

John laughed "surprisingly you're not the first woman to tell me that."

Ross watched as the waiter brought her a bag with her food in it, she paid him and got up.

She looked back at John and sighed

"Since you're so desperate here's some advice young Skywalker."

Ross watched as he half smiled

"Communicate."

John turned toward her and raised an eyebrow. "Communicate?"

"Communication is the key to understanding. It's made up of equal parts talking and listening."Ross stated

Ross grabbed her food and walked out the tavern and disappeared into the crowded streets of New York.

John turned back toward the bar and sat and thought about Ross's words. When he finally got up it was dark outside, he paid his tab and walked outside. Once he was on the street he pulled out his phone and dialed her new number.

After a few rings he heard her hesitant voice on the other end.

"Joss I think it's time we talked."

* * *

**AN:Just in case people aren't familer with the reference *young skywalker its form the movie Star Wars.**


	15. Chapter 15

"Same Shit Different Day" ― Stephen King

* * *

**EPILOGUE**

**Continuum**

2 Months later… Australia…12:30PM

It was hot and the streets were crowded as Ross stood next to a pole. She lifted her sunglasses and mounted them on her head and pulled out on old grey Nokia cell phone.

After 15 minutes of waiting Ross watched as an older man with white hair walked out of a café and got into an old looking car. Ross turned her body so that she was facing the car so that the driver could see her.

She watched as Frost looked up and made eye contact with her. As he sat rooted to his seat she smirked and winked at him before she pressed send on the phone.

In a matter of seconds Frosts car was engulfed in flames. She watched as people screamed and scatted all around the car. After a few minutes she put her sunglasses back on and walked away dropping the phone she used to detonate the car bomb into a trash bin.

When she was few blocks away she pulled out a satellite phone and dialed a number she knew by heart. After a few rings she heard a familiar male voice on the other line and she smiled.

"So Finch, about that job offer?"

* * *

**AN: I finished my first story. I hope you all liked it and I really appreciate all the reviews and words of encouragement I got from everybody. :)**

**This story arc is going to be part of a trilogy. I'm going to write a sequel to this and it's going to be focused on John and Joss rebuilding their relationship. As much as I wanted to cram some love into this story I felt that it would better if I just dedicated a whole entire story to rebuilding their relationship. As a heads up the 2nd big story in my trilogy is going to be entitled: Dangerous Games.**

**I'm also going to write some cute, funny, sexy and sad short case fics (2-5 chapters long) thrown in between to help me develop my OC (Alexander Ross).**

**Since I finished this story early I'll try to get my first short case fic up sometime next week, entitled: Theme Party**

**Also I'll be updating my unrelated Secret Admirer stand alone story and my Songs of Expression.**


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